It wasn't until two months later.
Xu Fugui finally brought back some useful news he'd managed to dig up.
A branch of the Xu Family's merchant caravan was planning to head to the Desolate Ruins Market soon and could take people along.
The Desolate Ruins Market, as its name suggested, was connected to the Wilderness: it stood amid the ruins of the Wilderness.
The area had once belonged to the Wilderness, but had later been reclaimed. The demon beasts were cleared out, the land thoroughly ravaged, and a market was established there.
It was now run like an iron fortress, having become entirely human territory.
The market was neither too far from nor too close to the Wilderness front line. It wasn't controlled by the top-tier powers, nor was it treated as a private border trade hub, yet it was still extremely prosperous, with many cultivators passing through and numerous factions coming and going.
It was exactly the kind of place Lin Changheng needed.
Xu Fugui was quite shrewd, too. He didn't mention Lin Changheng by name, only using his personal connections to get him a spot.
And it worked. The caravan would set out in five days.
As for the reward Xu Fugui had been longing for—the possibility of dragging a Chen Family Qi Refining Sixth Layer cultivator into the poisonous miasma—the Xu Family never brought it up again.
Xu Fugui sighed and lamented over it for quite a while. He also apologized to Lin Changheng, since he'd made such a bold promise back then.
Lin Changheng merely shook his head indifferently.
Apart from Xu Fugui, no one knew that Lin Changheng planned to leave.
So he had specifically asked the Xu Family for a month's leave, saying he'd sensed something in the depths of his being and planned to cultivate in seclusion to break through to the Qi Refining Middle Stage.
The Xu Family had no reason to refuse. After all, Lin Changheng was a nominal guest cultivator, not a beast of burden for the Xu Family.
Especially since Lin Changheng had a good talent for the Pill Dao and might become a mid-grade alchemist. They were all the less likely to treat him harshly.
Lin Changheng had counted on that.
In fact, after General Affairs Hall steward Xu Xuzhong reported the matter to the clan's senior members, they not only approved his leave but also waived his alchemy assignment for the month.
Lin Changheng thought, just as expected. He didn't forget to thank Xu Xuzhong, and even said with a strong sense of responsibility, "I'll finish handling the defective pills before taking my leave."
Xu Xuzhong was deeply moved. This young man truly devoted himself to the clan, and he had talent as well. Such a person was rare indeed.
It was a pity there were no emotional ties to bind him. Otherwise, he would have become fully integrated into the clan, and that would have been a great blessing for the Xu Family.
Perhaps they could arrange for him to marry a senior member's daughter. That way, they could strengthen their bond through marriage. It wouldn't be a bad idea.
As Xu Xuzhong thought this, he had someone bring over the defective pills they'd accumulated over the past half month and hand them to Lin Changheng.
Lin Changheng had no idea what Xu Xuzhong was thinking.
He'd only done this because he didn't want to waste the demon beasts' blood essence from those defective pills.
He extracted the blood essence from the defective pills using the usual method.
[Fire Crow Treasure Seed: Fifth Layer] [Spirit Snatch: 100/100] [Life Transformation: 0/10] [Effect: A low-grade demon beast bloodline, naturally endowed with fire affinity. With Spirit Snatch complete and Life Transformation nurturing its Dao, the true meaning of the bloodline-ancestral divine ability "Fire Control" can be refined into it.]
"Spirit Snatch is complete, but I still haven't figured out [Life Transformation]. I'll have to test it properly while I'm out at the market."
After all, he was extremely eager to obtain the true meaning of [Fire Control] granted by this bloodline-ancestral divine ability.
The [Green Wood Snake Treasure Seed] had also succeeded in Spirit Snatch and reached the fifth layer.
[Refined: Poison Neutralization Art: Transformation] [Effect: The body can briefly coexist with poison, gradually refining mid-grade toxins.]
This meant that no matter how poisonous a toxin was, it couldn't take his life immediately. Mid-grade toxins, in particular, would basically no longer pose a threat to him.
That first part was very important.
One had to know that many poisons in the cultivation world didn't kill people outright. Instead, they caused dazedness or paralysis, creating openings for an enemy to exploit and strike.
Poison didn't kill people. Magical artifacts did.
So, "the body can briefly coexist with poison" meant he could temporarily suppress a toxin's effects, preventing an ambush during a fight. Once he had a free hand, he could refine it afterward.
His ability to stay alive had improved once again!
But what Lin Changheng hadn't expected was this:
He had already prepared himself, guarding his mind closely as he awaited the [Origin Cauldron]'s transformation when the fifth-layer Treasure Seed underwent Spirit Snatch again.
But everything remained calm. The Origin Cauldron only gave a faint tremble.
There was no clang of a bell or crash of a cauldron, no ancient beast patterns on its surface that seemed to come alive and writhe, and certainly no earth-shaking beastly roar.
"Huh?"
Lin Changheng was bewildered.
Where the emerald-green Treasure Seed had once sat at the mouth of the cauldron in his sea of consciousness, a hazy True Core now took its place, flickering in the azure clouds.
[Green Wood Snake Treasure Seed: Fifth Layer] [Spirit Snatch: 3/100] [Life Transformation: 0/10] [Effect: A low-grade demon beast bloodline, naturally endowed with wood affinity. With Spirit Snatch complete and Life Transformation nurturing its Dao, the bloodline-ancestral demon art "Poison Neutralization" can be refined into it.]
"A bloodline-ancestral demon art? Not a divine ability?"
Lin Changheng immediately seized on the key point.
"And it's called 'Poison Neutralization'? The name hasn't changed?"
The Origin Cauldron hadn't transformed, so Lin Changheng had been prepared for this. Even so, he couldn't help sighing inwardly. As expected, not every family's ancestors had once been rich and powerful...
That was true of humans, and it was true of demon beasts.
The Green Wood Snake was clearly one of those whose ancestors had been ordinary.
The word "demon art" alone made it clear that it was inferior to a "divine ability." As for the actual difference, he'd have to wait until Life Transformation succeeded to find out.
By now, Lin Changheng's Spirit Root situation had also undergone a complete transformation.
His Fire Spirit Root had fifteen wisps of spiritual resonance! The new wisp came from the [Origin Treasure Seed] reaching the second layer.
His Wood Spirit Root came next, with a full twelve wisps! This was due to the [Green Wood Snake Treasure Seed] reaching the fifth layer.
His Earth Spirit Root followed, having already risen to eight wisps!
His Metal and Water Spirit Roots hadn't changed; they still had five wisps each!
He now had genuine low-grade dual Spirit Roots of fire and wood.
At last, the appointed day arrived.
It was Lin Changheng's first time leaving the Xu Family's residence in nearly five years, and his heart was filled with emotion.
During that time, Lin Changheng had also made a point of visiting the county princess, Dantai Feiyue. He gave her several Premium-Grade Pills and said that he was going into seclusion, so she might not be able to find him then.
"Congratulations, Brother Lin."
Hearing this, Dantai Feiyue studied Lin Changheng with her starry eyes for a few moments, then suddenly smiled.
There was something unusual in her expression. Lin Changheng noticed it, but couldn't make sense of it just yet. He didn't stay long and took his leave.
Lin Changheng had already changed his appearance by the time he crossed the river and boarded a packhorse cart. He wore a loose robe and a bamboo hat, and had stuck a human-skin mask over his face. His appearance was completely different. Who could recognize him?
The Xu Family's merchant caravan was small and lean, with just four carts and a dozen or so people.
Lin Changheng sat in the carriage of a packhorse cart near the back, resting with his eyes closed.
Two others shared the carriage with him: a woman wearing a veiled hat and an old man who also wore a bamboo hat.
They had both concealed their faces to some extent, making them hard to see clearly.
The three of them didn't talk, each dozing on their own.
The journey was uneventful. Six days later, after they crossed the mountains, a vast, gray, dusty market appeared before the travel-worn group.
"The Desolate Ruins Market! We're here!"
The merchant caravan cultivator's voice came from outside the carriage, tinged with relief and joy.
Lin Changheng got down and took a look. The place reminded him of a giant beast crouching beneath the boundless sky.
Nearby, there were clear traces of mountains that had been smashed apart.
The land had been forcibly battered into a flat stretch,
for the market to be built upon.
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